I wrote this a couple of years ago, back before diet restrictions became a medical necessity for me. It’s a sad world where pies live in dreams only!

On Friday, I fell off the diet wagon and landed face first in a coconut cream pie. The pie is gone, the weight is not! I might have been okay with just picking off a few pieces of the sweet, crunchy, toasted coconut, or with nibbling on the piece of crust that had conveniently broken off one side but, when I took the pie out of the box, it was still warm. That creamy, rich, warm filling was just begging to be eaten, so I did. I couldn’t get to a fork fast enough.

Half a pie later, I came to my senses. I didn’t eat the rest of the pie till later that evening. I try not to place temptation right at the fingertips of my fork but I bought the pie for a good cause. It was made as a fundraiser for H & H Chapel by a group that has pie making down to an art. Who could say no? The filling was homemade, the crust flaky, and the meringue real, with lightly browned peaks sprinkled with toasted coconut. No doubt about it, it was divine!

I have no willpower. At all. The only way I can control my eating is by keeping unhealthy snacks out of my house. So, I buy no pies. I bake no cookies. Candy does not live in my house. I don’t even keep chocolate chips in my pantry anymore and I padlock the brown sugar. During weak moments, I do allow a sweet to follow me home but it pays a steep price because it does not live long. Sometimes, when I take just a few steps beyond normal and choose a snack, I pick popcorn. What could possibly be unhealthy about that?